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What is Ethereum Classic?
What is Ethereum Classic and is it different from Ethereum? Well yes, they are different and in this article, I will give you a detailed review of the Ethereum Classic network and its native ETC cryptocurrency.
Ethereum Classic is the result of the hard for of the original Ethereum network before the DAO attack, where a part of the users decided to stay with the longest chain. The most unique feature about it is that it offers great flexibility for users and a wide range of services. The network supports smart contracts and ETC is currently one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world with a market cap of nearly 1 billion USD. There is no maximum supply set as of this moment.
Advantages
One of the main advantages of Ethereum Classic is its community and decentralized governance when it comes to decisions regarding updates and changes to the network. Some of the other benefits the coin has are:
- Updates for the network are still made to benefit everyone
- Immutability – by not going on with the hard fork resulting in Ethereum(ETH), the immutability of the blockchain was not broken
Disadvantages
Maybe the biggest disadvantage is that almost 90% of the original community have moved on to Ethereum so all the big players and holders are no longer on the longest chain (ETC). Here are some other flaws that the network posseses:
- Can not straight up receive the same updates as Ethereum. They need to be tweaked
- The risk of attacks like the DAO attack still remains
History and Evolution
As mentioned before, Ethereum Classic came to be as a result from the hard fork of the original Ethereum network back in 2016. This was accomplished when a part of the community decided to not split and remain with the longest blockchain. They stood behind the principle that in order for true immutability to be achieved, a fork should not be the solution. The exact date of the fork is 25th October 2016.
The founder of Ethereum Classic is Igor Artamonov and along with fellow developers Constantine Kryvomaz,, Isaac Ardis, Tomasz Zdybal and Shane Jonas a team formed that would look over and do their best for the future development of the network.
Ethereum Classic’s Future
At the moment, the team is working on the Mantis 2.0 project, Sidechains, Emerald Wallet and the Emerald project. You can find the whole roadmap of the teams future planshere.
Ethereum Classic Blockchain
Ethereum Classic’s blockchain is a decentralized peer-to-peer network that uses the Proof Of Work consensus algorithm. The miners on the network are rewarded after validating blocks and adding them to the chain. The rewards get reduced by 20% after every 5 million blocks that are verified. The reward per block was 5ETC and it dropped to the value it currently is – 4.2ETC. Next decrease in block reward is expected around April 2020 when the 10th millionth block would be mined.
As of the time of writing this article, the block time is roughly 15 seconds and the standard block size about 1.435 KB. The network has an automate difficulty adjustment system that is triggered every block. This way any attacks by powerful users with large mining power cannot hinder the system.
Ethereum Classic Nodes
Nodes are the backbone of each network and blockchain. They are the point of reference and query for all users working in the blockchain. There are two different kinds of nodes – Light node and Full node.
- Light nodes require to synchronise with the consensus rules and the map of full nodes to operate. They also need to connect to a full node each time a transaction needs to be carried out
- Full nodes can also be called Full Validating Nodes and there are two types on the Ethereum Classic network. The Full Archival node would require a full copy of the blockchain transaction history, while the Pruned Nodes need only the last 1000 block, which is enough to be a part of the consensus on the network, but not a miner
Forks or Tokens Based on ETC
As mentioned earlier the network itself is a product of a hard fork of the original Ethereum and ETC is the continuation of that as the longest chain. There are a few tokens that have been created to work on the blockchain. They are BitEther (BTR), Elcoin (EL), Gambit (GMB) and Bitcoin Classic Token (BCT).
How to get Ethereum Classic
There are two methods that you can use to obtain ETC coins. One of them is to mine the coin with the help of mining hardware that you can buy and build or rent. The second option is by straight up buying the cryptocurrency from an exchange.
Where to buy Ethereum Classic
The Ethereum Classic coin has shown great endurance ever since it was created. The community is very driven and have clear goals for the future. Especially lately, ETC has been getting a lot of attention from investors around the world and some exchanges are reporting great volumes of the coin being traded daily. Mining, buying and trading ETC coin has never been more popular and profitable than now and it is a great time for you to join in.
Currently most exchanges offer Ethereum Classic in a pair with another currency for trading but there are some exchanges offering fiat money pair with it, which means you can use real life money to obtain it.
| Exchange | Cryptocurrencies | Fiat Money | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bitforex
|
Bitcoin, Tether + 30 more | – | Trade now |
|
okex
|
Bitcoin, Ethereum, + 20 more | – | Trade now |
|
huobi
|
Bitcoin, Huobi Token + 40 more | – | Trade now |
How to mine Ethereum Classic
As I wrote above, mining is one of the methods you can use to get the ETC coin and also it is a quite popular way among users in the community. It is done with GPU (graphical processing unit) rigs that consist of a computer with one or multiple graphics cards connected together or with a special Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) machines that are specially designed to mine cryptocurrencies. Currently the most efficient and profitable way to mine Ethereum Classic coins is with ASICs. If you would like to find out more, you can visit HowToMine-ETC.
Wallets for Ethereum Classic
In order to be able to hold ETC cryptocurrency from mining or buying them from exchanges, you will need a wallet. Wallets are software programs that hold two keys – private key and public key. They are used to either receive cryptocurrency or to access your funds.
The Ethereum Classic cryptocurrency has its own official wallet, called Emerald Wallet. It is compatible with the most popular operating systems like Windows, Linux and OSx. You can download it from the official webpage and then install it. You can find the official wallet here.
You can find a thorough guide on how to install and setup the wallet here. Please be mindful that depending on what type of node you would like to be, the requirements for hard drive space will change. The minimum requirements are 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM and at least 300mb hard drive space.
Alternative Wallets
Alternatively, you could use other wallets, so-called alternative wallets. These are usually wallets that offer different and more features to the users. For example, the ability to hold more than one Ethereum Classic coin or a different user interface.
Desktop Wallets
Online Wallets
Mobile Wallets
Hardware Wallets
Ethereum Classic Network Security
Ever since the DAO attack, the development team have done all they can to increase the security of the network and assure their users that such a hack will not happen again. There are currently no notable security issues.
News and Useful Links
If you would like to follow the community and developers, you can always keep an eye on the official website and their official social media like their twitter – @eth_classic. Another option is to keep an eye on the reddit section for ETC here.